# Lynn Rainbow

Lynn Carol Rainbow-Reid AM (born 19 September 1942) credited also as Lynne Rainbow, is an actress of stage, film, television and radio, dancer and voice artist.

## Early life

Rainbow was born to Judge Alfred Rainbow and his wife. A fourth generation performer, her great grandfather John Fuller emigrated to New Zealand from the UK and was known as the ‘Silver throated tenor of New Zealand'. Her grandfather was theatre entrepreneur Sir Benjamin Fuller, who opened Fuller's Theatres across Australasia, together with brother Johnny. Rainbow's mother was also a dancer, whose partner was actor Ron Shand.
Rainbow was educated in Australia at the Ascham School, then studied acting under Dame Doris Fitton at the Independent Theatre school in Sydney. She subsequently attended The Sorbonne in Paris and the Dante Alighieri in Italy.

## Entertainment career

Rainbow has worked in the entertainment industry throughout England, the US and her native Australia. Serving as a judge by day, and dancing as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake by night, she has been involved in stage, film, TV and radio for over three decades.
Rainbow began working in theatre with Independent Theatre, before taking television roles from the early 1970s onwards, including guest spots in the Crawford Productions police dramas Homicide, Division 4 and Matlock Police, and in an episode of the situation comedy series The Group. In 1974, she starred as Victoria in a theatre production of Somerset Maugham's Home and Beauty.
However, she became most famous for her role in TV series Number 96 as original character Sonia the chemist, from March 1972. She stayed in the role until 1973, during which time her character was involved in numerous controversial storylines, including Sonia engaging in an apparent incestuous relationship, an inter-racial kiss, losing her husband Dr. Gordon Vansard in a car accident, and then being targeted by a woman planning to send her mad.
Rainbow reprised the role of Sonia Freeman in the film version of the serial, Number 96, in 1974. In the film, a newly married Sonia returns to Number 96, but again worries she is losing her mind. Rainbow shot all her scenes for the film in a single day, before rushing off to give a theatre performance as Elvira in Blithe Spirit that same night.
After Number 96 Rainbow continued to make guest appearances in Australian television drama series, features in miniseries Against the Wind (1978), took a regular role in soap opera The Young Doctors, guest starred in six episodes of A Country Practice, and appeared in an early episode of Home and Away.

## Personal life and honours

Rainbow married British Australia actor Tom Oliver. They first met in the 1970s on the set of Number 96 (before his long run as Lou Carpenter in Neighbours).
Rainbow was awarded in the Queens Birthday Honours with the Order of Australia (AM) with the indictment being for "significant service to the community through support for a range of cultural and charitable organisations, and to the performing arts as an actor".
Actors’ and Entertainers’ Benevolent Fund Queensland (of which she is Vice-President), honoured Rainbow with the 2024 Alan Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award (AELAA).

## Filmography (selected)
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1974 | Number 96 | Sonia Hunter | TV movie |
| 1983 | Sherlock Holmes and the Sign of Four | Voice | Animated TV movie |
| 1985 | Nicholas Nickleby | Voice | Animated TV movie |
| 1993 | You and Me and Uncle Bob | Miss Gibbs | TV movie |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1967 | Blandings Castle | Aggie | TV series |
| 1967 | Room at the Bottom | Wendy | TV series |
| 1968 | Misleading Cases | Felicity Haddock | TV series |
| 1969–71 | Homicide | Pam Gibson / Anna Leurini / Lucy Le Marc | TV series |
| 1970–72 | Division 4 | Christine Hassett / Barbie Ryan / Jennie West | TV series |
| 1971 | The Group | | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1971; 1974 | Matlock Police | Jan/Wilma Grimes | TV series |
| 1972–73 | Number 96 | Sonia Freeman | TV series, 53 episodes |
| 1974 | Out of Love | | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1976 | King's Men | | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1978 | Against the Wind | Mrs. Louisa Wiltshire | TV miniseries |
| 1978; 1979 | Cop Shop | Gloria Matthews / Anne Mitchell | TV series |
| 1980 | The Young Doctors | June Holland | TV series |
| 1982; 1984 | A Country Practice | Margaret Skilton / Mrs. Quinn / Susan Moore | TV series, 6 episodes |
| 1988 | Captain James Cook | | TV miniseries, 1 episode |
| 1988–91 | Home and Away | Neighbour / Heather Davidson | TV series |

## Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1962 | Gods of Red Earth | | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 1963 | The Gallant Tailor | | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 1967 | Little Women | Jo | Jeanetta Cochrane Theatre, London with Bloomsbury Plays Ltd |
| 1969 | Eden House | | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 1970 | On Approval | Helen Hayle | St Martins Theatre, Melbourne |
| 1974 | Blithe Spirit | Elvira | |
| 1974 | Don’t Listen Ladies! | | Marian Street Theatre, Sydney |
| 1974 | Home and Beauty | | Marian Street Theatre, Sydney |
| 1975 | How the Other Half Loves | | Opera House, Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch with J. C. Williamson & Kerridge Odeon Corporation |
| 1976 | Snap! | | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 1977 | The Happy Hunter | Yvonne | Marian Street Theatre, Sydney |
| 1977 | Away Match | Lucy Durrant | Marian Street Theatre, Sydney |
| 1980 | The Breadwinner | Margery | Marian Street Theatre, Sydney |
| 1987 | The Diary of Anne Frank | | Phillip Street Theatre, Sydney |
| 1993 | Out of Order | Gladys | Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Regal Theatre, Perth, Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide |
| 2024 | The Stage on Sunday | Herself | Stables Thearre, Sydney with Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation & Theatre Heritage Australia |